One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Actions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."

However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty